Indian CEOs most upbeat on growth: Gallup poll

Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 17:47 IST
Printer Print Email Email
Davos: Indian CEOs are the most optimistic in the world on revenue growth and the country's citizens among the more optimistic on prosperity for the next generation, according to two Gallup polls conducted in connection with the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Ninety percent of Indian chief executives - the highest from all countries - said they expect strong revenue growth in the next 12 months for their companies. In comparison, only about 73 percent of their Chinese counterparts think so. In the US, where recession fears have been rising, a low 36 percent of the executives said they were very confident - a figure that exceeded those for Japan, France and Italy. The survey interviewed 1,150 CEOs around the world. In the other survey, conducted among over 60,000 people the world over, 47 percent of the general public in India said they expect the next generation to be prosperous while 25 percent said it would be less prosperous. The public in Nigeria, where oil wealth has so far done little for most of its citizens, was the most optimistic with 78 percent saying the next generation will be more prosperous and only about three percent saying it will be less prosperous. In Kenya, the figure was 67 percent. Only 27 percent Americans expect the next generation to be more prosperous, and a high 43 percent expect less prosperity. Fear that the future will be worse is even greater in some other countries. In France, only 11 percent of respondents said they expected a more prosperous future. The figures in Japan, Germany and Italy were almost that low. Overall, the survey findings have shown that the future looks bleak in much of the developed world. The view in the developing world is much more optimistic than the developed world. The confidence of emerging markets was witnessed in sessions at the WEF, as participants from India proclaimed that the momentum of Indian economy could carry them past any downturn in the US. But one Chinese speaker said a recession in the US might bring China's growth down to 9 percent a year, from the 10 to 11 percent he expected otherwise. The Gallup poll of individuals also asked whether they agreed with certain statements about business leaders, and found a wide variety of opinions. Business leaders were generally viewed as more competent than political leaders, but they were also seen as dishonest by many. The starkest view was in Germany, where only six percent thought the business leaders were not competent and capable, but 71 percent thought they were dishonest. In the US, 49 percent said they thought business executives were dishonest, while 25 percent did not think they were competent. The country with the highest regard for its business leaders appears to be Britain, where only 19 percent viewed them as dishonest, and 13 percent doubted their competence. India is somewhere in the middle, where about 39 percent said their business leaders are dishonest, and 21 percent believing them to be not capable and competent. But some people do not think it is necessary to have competent business executives for a country to prosper. Nigeria, the country where 78 percent of the public expect the next generation to be more prosperous, had 40 percent of its respondents say business leaders were not competent. The Gallup International Voice of the People/PricewaterhouseCoopers survey was conducted in the last quarter of 2007.
Source: IANS
siliconindia